Aotearoa award-winning indie folk artist, Mel Parsons, announces new album CASTLE HILL - out August 7 + releases delicate new single and video, ‘Grain By Grain’
Critically acclaimed singer and songwriter Mel Parsons has today announced her seventh studio album, CASTLE HILL, set for release on August 7. The news comes alongside her latest single, the emotive new ballad ‘Grain By Grain’
CASTLE HILL will join the ranks of Parsons’ celebrated previous records; her 2019 album GLASS HEART winning Best Folk Artist at the AMA’s and her most recent album SABOTAGE (2024) being nominated for the prestigious Taite Prize and Album of the Year at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards. Mel has just been announced as a finalist at the 2026 AMA’s for Best Folk Artist, the awards taking place on May 28.
“This album [SABOTAGE] really locates the mournful quality in Mel Parsons’ voice, and highlights what a remarkable instrument it is; oceans of feeling sounded out with apparently little effort”
- Tony Stamp, RNZ
Out today in tandem with the announcement is Parsons’ heartfelt new single ‘Grain By Grain’. Like the gentle push and pull of the ocean, ‘Grain By Grain’ embraces the feeling of being washed and worn away by the tide; each time reshaping with continuous change.
“Loosely, ‘Grain By Grain’ is an ocean metaphor - the beach being washed and worn away only to be built back up again; but in a different way, by different tides, on different days,” says Parsons. “The song embodies a sense of calm - an acceptance of how things are the present moment.”
The single comes with a new music video - behind the scenes on tour, with Parsons and her band warming up for a show on the floor of famed Lyttelton venue ‘Loons’. Filmed and edited by Adam Hogan of LORE Films, the visuals feature long time bandmates Jed Parsons, Aaron Stewart and Josh Logan.
The single joins her latest releases: the nostalgic ‘Caravan’, which followed ‘Don’t Leave The Light On’ - a heart-rending alt-folk ballad which laid bare the harsh reality of domestic abuse. 2025 saw ‘Be Here Now’ featuring Mitchell Froom (Crowded House) on keys, ‘Brick By Brick’ and ‘Post High Slide’ - all of which spent multiple weeks on RadioScope’s alternative music charts.
Mel Parsons is one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated songwriters and prolific touring musicians. Recent years have seen her extensively touring both sides of the Tasman, opening for Crowded House, performing at Folk Alliance in Montreal, Canada and, most recently, headlining Auckland Folk Festival.